The Resolution of Isako Toriumi
by skankovich
Summary: Gekkoukan High School composition teacher Isako Toriumi deals with losing her passion for teaching after the death of the protagonist. A bottle of sake and some nostalgia ought to do the trick.


**Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 1 October 2010**

"_**The Resolution of Isako Toriumi: Old dogs and new tricks"**_

The last few drops of sake dropped from the cheap bottle and into the tall glass, which was held by Isako Toriumi. She'd had yet another crappy day at work, making this week a perfect set, and if that didn't call for a drink, what did? Unfortunately, she had just guzzled her last bottle of sake in its entirety, and she felt far too inebriated to manage even the five minute walk to Paulownia Mall – or even down the stairs for that matter. Toriumi lived on the third floor of a small apartment block adjacent to the Kirijo Group owned mall. Conveniently enough, Gekkoukan High School, where she taught composition to juniors was also close by.

"Heh," Toriumi mused, "convenient my ass." She downed the glass of sake, which only managed a quarter-fill, and brought her delicate (and now incredibly wobbly) frame to stand. She glanced at her desk, which had a pile of unmarked papers on it, scowled, and then collapsed back onto the chair.

"Why am I even doing this…?" she asked herself aloud. "What possessed me to take this damn job and wind up like this? What the HELL was I thinking?" Her last exclamation had accidently escalated to a yell, and was promptly acknowledged by harsh banging from the neighbouring apartment.

"Shaddap, ya drunk bitch, I'm tryin' to sleep!"

"Sorry, Samura-san," Toriumi hollered, "…you ancient prick."

Toriumi slumped down, brushing her messed hair out of her face, and decided to try to pinpoint the exact moment she lost passion for her job. The reason she even decided to pursue teaching in the first place was her fantastic fifth-grade teacher. "Bitch," Toriumi slurred to herself before fading into reminiscence. The teacher's name was Saki Mamura, and she was every level-headed girl's perfect role model. She was sassy, thin, attractive, smart… there wasn't a single thing that this woman was missing. Toriumi reminisced fondly on the exact moment her passion for teaching ignited within her.

Mamura-sensei had arrived to class five minutes late, with half-done hair, a stained white business shirt covered with a black business jacket, and a black not-so-business skirt that barely covered her impressive backside. She always dressed like this. It was half the reason the students liked her. From what was apparently due to the reason she didn't dress like she was 70 and going to her best friend's funeral, she was openly criticised by many of her colleagues quite often. Today was no exception. A male colleague stormed in, and scowled. "Rather inappropriate, don't you think, Saki?" he muttered in condescension. Sensei peered over to the man and stated frankly, "I can wear what I damn well want to. Stop ogling me and get out. I'm trying to begin my lesson."  
"Let me tell you something," the man said menacingly, moving in very close to Mamura-sensei. Toriumi remembered the following verbal onslaught word for word.

"How dare you come… classroom… skank… Mazel Tov… sandpaper and… Timbuktu, and your dirty family as well."

Okay, so maybe she didn't hear properly. But the next part she did, _perfectly._ Mamura-sensei told him off _good._ It was brutal. An all-out verbal assault. It left the colleague pale and dumbfounded. Without a word, he slinked away. Toriumi's eyes gleamed as her sensei turned around to face the children.

"Sorry," she said, "let's start our lesson." She clasped her hands beside her head, flashed a brilliant smile, and heightened her pitch. "Today we're doing something a little different! I'm going to give you a riddle, and if you can solve it, I'll give you a prize. Okay! What runs, but never walks, has a bed but never sleeps, and has a mouth but never eats? While you're thinking, I'll write this week's spelling words on the board. Go!" The class hustled and bustled quietly, thinking collectively about the riddle. Toriumi thought silently to herself, ignoring the others around her.

"Maybe it's a man who just got killed," a boy suggested.

"Eww," a girl responded in disgust, "dead people can't run anyway!"

"Bed… run… mouth," Toriumi murmured to herself. Then it clicked, and her hand shot up into the air, waving frantically. "Ooh! Mamura-sensei! I know! I know the answer!"

Mamura-sensei turned around and eyed Toriumi delicately. "Oh, really? I'm impressed. What do you think it is?"

"A river, Mamura-sensei!" Toriumi's eyes gleamed as she waited for confirmation.

"Brilliant, Isako. Here's your prize." She reached into her handbag and pulled out a sparkly, love heart shaped notebook, and threw it to Toriumi. "Th-thank you!" Up to this very day, Isako Toriumi can not remember a happier moment. Snapping back to reality, Toriumi dragged herself onto her feet, and stumbled over to her desk. She opened a drawer, and pulled out that same sparkly notebook. Even though it was full of crushes she had throughout the rest of her education, she kept it as a reminder as to why she got into teaching, if she ever found herself disheartened. It had worked in the past, however tonight she didn't feel a thing. But why? She sat down at her desk, and delved deeper into her memory to pinpoint where her passion dissolved. Was it when that fat fourth-grader vomited on her designer shoes for which she saved for months? No… Maybe it was when she was transferred to Gekkoukan High and her car was toilet-papered… No. Perhaps when that home-shopping freak called her a "drunk slut"? That still wasn't it. Then it hit her, hard.

"Minato-kun," she sighed. This was definitely it. Throughout last year, she had developed a crush on junior transfer student Minato Arisato, and she hadn't dated since. Arisato-kun was tender, handsome and intelligent. Everything she wanted. Everything she _needed._ Alas, Toriumi was a thirty-something composition teacher, and had no excuse to be close to him. She internalized her feelings, day after day after day. The Nyx Deliverance cult that formed in January made her fret, and she several times considered approaching Minato. She never did though, and it plagues her mind every day. Minato Arisato was found dead on the roof of Gekkoukan High by his friends this March. Natural causes, apparently. Hearing that news, Toriumi concluded, was the one reason that her passion for education was extinguished.

"Two months later, and I haven't found my feet. I'm hopeless," Toriumi sobbed. A tear ran down her face and dropped onto the carpet below. The second it did, she experienced a hot flush, and heard an echoing voice.

"I'm okay," it said.

"Wh-what…? Minato-kun?" She rushed over to the couch to check if the cheap and nasty bottle of sake had listed any side effects. "Shit, what have I done to myself… I'm probably going to die here surrounded by cheap snack packets and sake bottles." She fumbled and dropped the bottle onto the floor, which landed with a crash. She picked it up, set it down on the coffee table, and looked around. Silence.

"I'm okay, Maya," the voice said again.

"M-Maya…? I think you've got the wrong hallucination, bud."

"Live, Maya. Tatsuya said so."

"Tatsuya…" she recalled her time on Innocent Sin Online, the doomed MMORPG in which she met a boy who named his avatar 'Tatsuya', and hers 'Maya'. "Minato-kun… you're Tatsuya?" She realised then and there that she had divulged her feelings to him after all, with the message she left in the sand inside the MMORPG. 'I luv u'. It was dumb, but it was enough. It was silent for at least ten minutes. She grew impatient.

"M-Minato!" Toriumi found herself yelling. Banging from the apartment next door ensued. "Shaddap, Toriumi! It's too early for your shit."

"Sorry again, Samura-san… wait, 'early'?" She re-checked her watch. It was half past six. "Crap," she exclaimed, "I didn't sleep. What am I going to do, school is in an hour, and-" Toriumi glanced at her calendar. It was a public holiday. She let out a sigh of relief. Nonetheless, Isako Toriumi found herself at ease. Hallucination or not, she felt resolution within her heart. She strode over to her bathroom with new-found confidence, picking up, kissing and throwing down her glittery notebook on the way. Today would be a good day. After showering, Toriumi took a curling iron to her hair, applied mascara and her favourite lip gloss, and admired the woman in the mirror. She felt like she was channelling her sensei today.

Toriumi left the apartment building in a frilly-chested, sleeveless blouse and short pink skirt. Her (clean) designer shoes clicked happily along the path toward Paulownia Mall. Once inside, she seated herself at Chagall Café and ordered a pheromone coffee for the first time in years. Sipping at it slowly, she felt people looking at her. Maybe it was an effect of the coffee. A man approached her table, and rested his hands on the chair opposite her.

"Uhh," he stammered, "Is th-this seat taken?"

"Hmm?" Toriumi looked up. This man was handsome. He looked tender, and he dressed intelligently. He was everything she wanted. Everything she _needed._

"I-I don't know quite how to say this…" The two adult's eyes met, and Toriumi's lips parted slightly. "…but you're beautiful."

**End**


End file.
